I know it took a while and I'm sorry. but the damn computer wigged out me and deleted almost all of this chapter and I had to re-write it from memory. I hope it makes up for it by being awsome though.
Undead Fox
Starfox Evil
Book II
Chapter Eleven: Drastic Measures
Fox's heart rate skyrocketed as he watched his daughter disappear from view. He shouted, "NO", as he ran forwards. But he was sopped short by Wesker's boot landing in his chest, knocking him back. Luckily the armor plate in his vest absorbed most of the force, but it still hurt. Fox growled, knowing his daughter only had seconds left, and drew his CEB-8, holding it at his side as he charged an overload shot.
Wesker scoffed, "You of all people should know that I can dodge that."
Fox whipped the weapon up and brushed his thumb over a node on the side, deactivating the magnetic containment unit. All the energy contained in the chamber escaped as the entire battery dumped into a massive ball of sickly green energy building on the end of the gun, which was slowly melting in Fox's metal hand.
The vulpine snarled, murder in his eyes as he said, "Dodge it now", and released the trigger. As the ball of plasma slammed into Wesker Fox threw the gun away and ran again, juking past the engulfed Wesker and jumping out the window. He dug his metal fingers into the bottom of the balcony above and swung himself up, planting his feet on the bottom. Charging up the pupil in his left eye narrowed as adrenaline flooded his system, and again time slowed to a crawl. Releasing the power in his legs he launched himself towards the still falling figures below him, faster than the speed of sound.
He reached Emily first, quickly pulling her tight to his chest. Then he reached over and just managed to grasp the flailing hand of the Emperor's sister. It was at this moment that he realized the flaw in his plan, muttering, "Aw fuck", just before he felt something hit him in the back…
Back in the room…
The shockwave from Fox's supersonic kick went unnoticed by Wesker, who was shiverring, both with pain and adrenaline from the near miss. Opening his eyes he saw the shimmering liquid metal surface which surrounded him. He looked at his hands and shook again. What little of his skin that was not covered by clothing had been burned and all his clothes had hit their flashpoint the instant the ball of energy had struck his barrier. Luckily there was minimal oxygen in the sphere, so the flames died quickly, leaving him smoking and smoldering. He let out the breath he had been holding and lowered the barrier, letting the metal collect in front of him.
"Cocky little bastard almost got me with that one."
As he dropped the barrier he looked himself over and snorted when he saw the damage to his clothes and forearms. Then he noticed something odd. Instead fo merging back into his body, the metal fluid was instead floating in front of him, twisting and contorting, as if in pain itself. Reaching his hand out, the human glared and gave a slight jerk in surprise as suddenly the glimmering mass snapped back away from him. The man growled and lunged forward snatching at the shinning mass, but it shot up to the ceiling and then out the window, screaming towards the ground.
Wesker's jaw dropped in shock as he watched it disappear from view, the fingers on his outstretched hand twitching as he shouted, "What the fuck!?"
Then he heard something shift behind him. Whirling around he saw Krystal's battered body leaning against the hole it had made earlier. The blue vixen was shuddering in pain with one hand outstretched towards the window. The human stood there almost slack jawed and growled, "What have you done?!"
Krystal smirked, "I've just saved them", then she shifted her weary gaze to Wesker, "And condemned you."
Then she passed out, falling backwards, back into the destroyed aid's station, landing against one of the desks that hadn't been destroyed, her chin practically resting on her slowly rising chest. Wesker's left eye developed a tick as his anger boiled inside. Then he stormed towards her livid as a bull in a red room. He grabbed her by the throat and lifted her from the ground holding her in front of him.
"You stupid bitch", he squeezed and Krystal gagged, and coughed as she sputtered back to conciousness. The human snarled and squeezed tighter, "What you have just done will make no difference. Even if they do survive the fall you will never see them again. Because I'm going to kill you, then I'm going to go down there and rip your pathetic husband's spine out and beat your little pissant brat to death with it", grinning he whispered, "What do you think about that?"
Krystal let out a wheezing laugh before she spit, her purple blood splatting onto his cheek.
Wesker was about to say something else when a black furred hand grabbed him under his jaw, while it's partner settled on the back of his head. With a violent and nauseating series of dull snaps Panther jerk Wesker's head to the side, snapping his neck. As the man's body dropped to the floor he moved quickly around in front and scooped Krystal up. The blue woman groaned and rubbed her sore neck as she muttered, "Think you waited long enough?"
Panther sighed, "Sorry. It was a bit trickier sneaking around behind him with all this shit on the floor", he looked down at the twitching body on the floor, "How long?"
Krystal shook her head, "A minute. Maybe."
Panther immediately started towards the stairs, "Then let's git while the gittin's good."
They'd only just reached the door when they heard a crash from behind them. Without pausing Panther yanked the door open. Moving quickly he set Krystal down on the stairs leading up before drawing his CEB-8. Pulling the door closed he saw Wesker was already up and moving towards them, albeit unsteadily, his spine obviously not completely reconnected.
As soon as the door shut Panther ripped the face off an emergency light fixture and ripped out a handfull of wires to a shower of sparks. Tying them together he wrapped one end around the manual doorknob, before depressing and holding the trigger down on his blaster. Onve his HUD monocle showed fully charged he pressed the same button that Fox had, causing the weapon to overload. Before it built up too much head the feline tied the other end of the wire around the weapon's trigger and propping it against the railing. Then he scooped Krystal back up and started moving upstairs. As they came to the last landing Panther opened his COM to the pilot, "Hey! I need pickup on the roof pronto!"
The pilot came back over saying, "Negative. There's no place to land on the roof."
Panther set Krystal down and took a breath, shouting, "Then make one dammit! There is no way for us to get back downstairs."
Then he heard the door three floors down slam, Wesker had reached it. Panther yanked his shotgun off his back and primed it, listening to it whine as the pilot said, "Roger that."
Then the floor under them shook, and there was the scent of ozone as plasma burned just outside. This was followed by a smaller blast as Wesker finally managed to compose himself enough to rip the stairwell door from it's hinges, releasing the overloaded blaster's charge. However it'd been charging so long that as soon as it tried to dump the energy containment failed and it simply blew up, destroying the landing, wall, and several feet of stairs going both up and down. There was silence for a moment, the only sound that of chunks of pulverized concrete falling and striking as yet undamaged lower levels.
Then the pilot's voice came over the COM, loud in the silence, "Get out here. The blast weakened the structural integrity of the roof, so be careful."
Panther swallowed, ignoring the voice in his ear as he scanned the hole for signs that Wesker had survived. There weren't any, but that didn't mean anything concerning the demented man. Turning around the feline nearly jumped out of his skin when he bumped into the blond man, who cocked his head to the side and smiled, "Hello", before grabbing the front of his vest and hurling him bodily thru the roof access door. The feline skittered on his back for a moment before he rolled over and landing on all fours, his boots and bare hands dragging in the rubble.
As he slowed to a stop Panther was forced to jump to the side as suddenly the roof gave under his feet in that place, collapsing down into a room below. Panther looked up just in time to dive and catch Krystal as Wesker threw her out next. The battered blue vixen crashed into the feline's chest, knocking him back against a wrecked air conditioning unit. Panther tapped his COM and said, "Hey forget landing. We've gotta do this the hard way."
The feline struggled back to his feet, glancing up as the dropship swung in from above, then back to the door, which now framed Wesker's livid form. The feline took note of the fact that the human was so furious that he had neglected to notice the Typhoon, it's engines disguised by the wind blowing fiercly and the fires burning down on the streets below. With Krystal draped over one arm the feline used his other to aim his shotgun at the man, being sure to let his arm waver, as if to show fear.
Wesker folded his arms and sneered, "You people disgust me."
Panther let out a slow breath and began to circle to Wesker's left, towards the edge of the roof were the Typhoon had dropped from view, "The feeling's mutual freak."
Wesker snorted, and Panther let out a minute sigh when he watched the man begin to take the bait and match their circle, going in the same direction. Once their backs were to the edge the human started towards them, forcing them backwards. Wesker smirked as they came to a jerking halt at the edge. Panther glanced over his shoulder at the drop. Then he looked back at the human and sighed. Dropping the shotgun he scooped Krystal up in his arms, turned around, and jumped.
Wesker balked, he hadn't expected him to do it. Then all of a sudden he saw something else he didn't expect, the form of Panther lifting back up above the roofline, Krystal still in his arms. Then they floated back away from the building, and Wesker saw the ship.
"Son of a bitch!"
Wesker's hand shot inside his jacket and he pulled out his old .45 from Earth. Aiming quickly he unloaded all nine rounds in their direction. He didn't see any strike as they dropped down thru an open hatch in the roof.
But that doesn't mean they didn't hit.
As the dropship pulled away from the building Krystal screamed in agony inside, clutching at the bullet hole in her side, just above her hip. Panther scrambled over to the medi-bed and set her down. Strapping her in he grabbed a first aid kit and shouted, "Get us out of here!"
However the pilot responded with, "What about McCloud?"
Panther flatered, pausing as he realized he'd completely forgotten about his friend, and the other half of the reason why they'd even come back down here. For the first time in a while he looked at the timer in HUD and felt his heart jump at the numbers he saw…
12:38
12:37
12:36
Panther slapped a bandage on Krystal's wound and said, "Hang on", then he opened a channel to Fox's COM, hoping that he still had it...
Fox felt something hit him, and a pain like a thousand needles stabbing him all at once. He hadn't felt this pain in over ten years. His eyes rolled back in his head as he felt liquid ice flood into his system. Then suddenly he felt a presence around himself. Opening his eyes he saw a large metal ball encircling all three of them.
Then he felt them stop.
It was a massive, jarring impact that rattled his bones, and he hoped to God that his charges were alright. Looking at the form clutched tightly to his chest he was releaved to see that Emily was still breathing, still crying softly into his chest. The vulpine kissed the top of her head before he looked over at the leopardess in his other arm. She was unconscious, but breathing. He shook her gently, "Wake up."
Then the barrier collapsed, and Fox watched in flow into the bottoms of his shoes, moulding to his legs up to his knees before disappearing. Looking around Quickly Fox realized how exposed they were. They had landed back in the courtyard, punching a fresh hole in the roof. Fox roughly shook the leopardess andshe jolted awake. Fox pulled his sub machine blaster off his back and fired a single shot into the forehead of a rushing mouse. Without looking at her he said, "Can you walk?"
The feline tried, but gasped as her left ankle gave out. Fox growled, "Perfect. I'll take that as a no." he put the now calm Emily down, "Sweetie, you'll have to run, because I have to carry this lady."
"Vanessa", the leopard said, "That's my name."
Fox scooped her up, "Nice to finally meet you", then he glanced at his HUD…
15:04
15:03
15:02
Fox swallowed, "Damn. We've got no time", looking down at his daughter he said, "Emily. You need to try and keep up, 'cause we need to go and hide", then he looked back to the woman in his arms, "Grab my blaster and try to cover us."
The woman nodded and plucked the weapon off his back and over his shoulder before he started running.
With the added weight in his arms Fox didn't have to worry about leaving Emily behind, but the going was still tough, the young vixen being naked and thus shoeless had to be careful not to injure he feet on all the debris littlering the ground. Thankfully the Typhoon had cleared the area of most of the undead. By the time they reached the LZ the clock read 12:36.
Suddenly Fox's COM barked. He let go of Vanessa's legs, letting her support herself on her good foot as he pressed a finger to his headset, "Panther? Is that you?"
The black feline's voice came back sounding relieved, but nervous all at the same time, "Fox! Thank the gods! Wesker shot Krystal. I have to get her to a real doctor so we can't pick you up."
Fox felt his blood run cold, "Oh God", then an idea hit him, "Panther go. We'll be fine. I've still got time to get us as far from the blast zone as possible and get underground. If it still works afterward I'll activate my emergency beacon so you can find us."
On the other end the feline nodded, "Good luck."
Fox closed the link and looked around. Fear rising as the clock ticked down, less than ten minutes. Spotting a police ground unit the vulpine said, "Emily get in that police car."
As the girl ran to the car Fox picked Vanessa back up and followed. Looking at her he said, "Sorry in advance", before tossing her roughly into the passenger seat. The sudden jolt caused a lance of extreme pain to shoot up her leg and she cried out. Fox slammed the door shut and slid over the hood before jumping into the driver's seat, shutting the door and watching with disdain as it fell off. He pressed his palm to the scanner and said, "Emergency military override 55497-FoxJamesMcCloud."
The engine purred to life as the computer said, "Welcome Captain McCloud. Your access has been logged."
Fox slammed the car into gear and tore off down the street after turning off the lights and sirens. No need to attract any more attention than they already were.
In it's monotonous voice the computer droned out, "Warning. Driver door is open. Driver seatbelt not fastened. Passenger seatbelt not fastened. Suspect seatbelt not fastened."
Glancing up Fox smirked seeing that there was still a shotgun racked on the roof of the one hand fromt eh wheel he yanked it down and handed it to Vanessa, "We'll need that."
"Warning. Driver door is open. Driver seatbelt is not fastened. Passenger seatbelt is not fastened. Suspect seatbelt is not fastened."
Fox glanced at his HUD again…
4:13
4:12
"Warning…"
The computer was cut off as Fox growled and buried his metal fist in the console. After another minute they came to a screeching halt and Fox jumped out of the car. Vanessa swung her door open and hopped out as well, hobbling around to Fox's side as he let his daugter out of the back seat. Then he pointed at a building, "Emily stand by the door."
The girl did as she was told as her father ran over to scoop up Vanessa. Fox set her down, "You'll have to move on your own for now", looking at his daughter he said, "Emily you stay right beside Vanessa. Do not leave her side."
Then he drew his sub machine blaster again and moved quickly thru the door, right past the sign reading Main Lobby. He quickly took in his corners before moving to the elevators. He pressed his back to the wall and elbowed the button, covering the others as they moved slowly towards him, Vanessa struggling to carry the shotgun and keep her balance as she hobbled forward. The doors parted and both she and Fox raised their weapons. Luckily the elevator was empty. The three stepped inside before Fox hit the button marked B3. The elevator dropped quickly. As the doors parted the automated voice said, "Level Three…Armory, Teleporter Control, Gunsmith, Training Hall."
They moved quickly down the dimly lit corridor, Fox with his weapon raised as he glanced at the timer…
1:24
1:23
1:22
…Fox pointed to the right as they came to an intersection, "It's just this way."
They entered a room marked Training Hall as the timer hit 0:45. Fox locked the door behind him and flopped down on a weight bench, hoping against the odds that they were far enough under ground. Emily walked nervously over to him and he dropped his weapon to the ground in order to scoop her up in a hug. He glanced at the leopardess across from him, who had practically collapsed onto the floor, sweat and a look of pain showing on her face.
Fox sighed and watched as the timer ticked down
0:10
0:09...
End Chapter Eleven